Vincent van Gogh 1853 - 1890

Vincent van Gogh was born more than 150 years (1853) ago in Zundert, Netherlands (Dutch)

He had many jobs, such as working in an art gallery, as a teacher, in a bookstore and as a preacher.
Then, around 1880, Theo his brother, suggested he become a full time artist.

When he painted,Vincent liked to play with light and use loose brush strokes. He liked dark tones.

In 1885 Vincent went to Belgium and he discovered Japanese art which had bright colours - this
influenced his style.

In 1886 he went to Paris and met other artists like
Paul Gauguin and Henri de Tououse-Lautrec. This is when he discovered impressionism and liked its use of colour and light and the technique
(pointillism) where you use small dots that blend into rich colours. So Vincent is regarded as a post-impressionist .

In 1888 Vincent left the city and went to a French country town called Arles - he was happy for a
while but later he had mental problems and actually cut off part of his left ear!

In 1889 he was treated at a mental institution and he started painting with small stripes instead of
dots and later also used swirls.

Sadly, in 1890, Vincent shot himself in the chest and died two days later with his brother, Theo, by
his side. He was 37.